The Great Seal of Ohio. 489
THE GREAT SEAL OF OHIO.
BY S. S. KNABENSHUE. Artists and engravers take great liberties with the coat-of- arms of the United States when they use it in illustration. Every one knows that the great seal of the nation contains the eagle, the shield, and the motto "E pluribus unum"; but there are com- paratively few who are familiar with the design properly dis- played, according to the letter of the statute. The same is true |
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of the state seals, and notably of that of Ohio. Some artist, a half century or more ago, in a newspaper cut, introduced an "ark" or flat-boat with a roof, which was the mode of trans- portation used by the settlers of southern Ohio a century and a quarter ago, and larer. They came overland to Pittsburg and thence by ark down the Ohio. This innovation has been repeated so often that many people suppose the ark - or canal-boat, as it is often mistakenly called--belongs on the Ohio seal. It does not, and never had a place there. The first legislature, after Ohio became a state, provided by law for a great seal. The act was passed March 25, 1803. It provided for the design as follows: "On the right side, near the bottom, a sheaf of wheat, and on the left a bundle of seven- |